ततो द्रोणं शिनेः पौत्रो राजन् विव्याध पत्रिणा ॥
दक्षिणं भुजम् आसाद्य पीडयन् भरतर्षभ ॥
द्रोणो ऽपि समरे राजन् माधवस्य महद् धनुः ॥
अर्धचन्द्रेण चिच्छेद रथशक्त्या च सारथिम् ॥
मुमोह सरथिस् तस्य रथशक्त्या समाहतः ॥
स रथोपस्थम् आसाद्य मुहूर्तं संन्यषीदत ॥
tato droṇaṃ śineḥ pautro rājan vivyādha patriṇā ||
dakṣiṇaṃ bhujam āsādya pīḍayan bharatarṣabha ||
droṇo 'pi samare rājan mādhavasya mahad dhanuḥ ||
ardhacandreṇa ciccheda rathaśaktyā ca sārathim ||
mumoha sarathis tasya rathaśaktyā samāhataḥ ||
sa rathopastham āsādya muhūrtaṃ saṃnyaṣīdata ||
Then the grandson of Shini pierced Drona, O king, with a feathered arrow, reaching his right arm, tormenting him, O bull among the Bharatas. Drona too, in the battle, O king, severed Madhava's great bow with a crescent-headed shaft, and with a chariot-spear struck down his charioteer. His charioteer, struck by the chariot-spear, fainted and sank down onto the platform of the chariot for a moment.
31c5d41f0952 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:08:02 PM UTC
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Drona now strikes not Satyaki himself but his charioteer: to deprive the chariot of its driver is to take away its motion. It is telling that the skilled fighter strikes at the support rather than butting head-on against the strongest point. The verse teaches that the wisdom of battle seeks the vulnerable link: where the warrior himself cannot be taken, one cuts at what sustains his strength — yet, as we shall see, even this stratagem will not break one who becomes his own charioteer.